Categories: Business

Best Countries in Europe for Startups and Founders

Perhaps, you are searching for the best country to start a business as a foreigner in Europe. There are different countries in this continent that do welcome foreign investors and innovative entrepreneurs to launch their business. But there are several differences between countries here with regards to corporate tax, business environment, incentives and law.

Which country in Europe to choose to launch your startup?

Since there are several countries in Europe, selecting the right one can be difficult. However, you can take into consideration some key points like:

Boast of an excellent track record to promote startups.
Country performance in the specific sector for human resource availability. Equally important to check is the salary range offered in this country.
Is there a stable and business-friendly political situation combined with growing/stable economy?
What tax incentives are offered?
Country performance on infrastructure. Does it boast of having excellent communication services, fast internet, stable transportation system?

5 best countries to start a business in Europe

Germany: You can consider launching your startup in Berlin, Germany. You can easily hire a highly educated, English-speaking workforce. Also are offered top-notch infrastructure like social services, telecommunications, internet, transportation, etc. The local government also offers lucrative incentives. The corporation tax charged here is around 15%. Also are levied upon commercialization taxes. VAT charges and registration is not required for businesses having a taxable turnover of €50,000 or less.
Great Britain: For a long time, London, the capital city of Great Britain is regarded as the world’s startup epicenter. You can also choose other cities in the UK for your startups like Edinburgh, Birmingham or Manchester. When hiring and office space is concerned, they are quite affordable. Great Britain is one of the best countries for startups since it provides easier access to leading venture capitalists. Although general business maintenance cost is a bit higher here, you can enjoy excellent rewards for your investment.
Sweden: It is one of the best countries for startups and home to several amazing disruptive technologies and inventions. A Swedish payments fintech firm named ‘Klarna’ is among the world’s biggest fintech firm. Recently, it had managed to raise about $460 million while reaching a post-money valuation of about $5.5 billion. This country is also known to present the world with Truecaller, Pixlr, iZettle and Spotify. The corporate tax charged here is 22%. By this year, it is planned to be reduced to 20.6% to attract foreign founders and be more competitive.
Estonia: It is also among the best countries to start a business in Europe. This small country boasts of following highly digitized procedures and a powerful education system. It is easy to obtain entrepreneurial and work visa. It offers an e-Residency program allowing you to become an e-resident of a European country. This way, you can manage remotely your Estonian company. It also claims to have one of the world’s highest startups/capita rates including an economically advanced and active population. This is pertaining to disruption and entrepreneurship. Pipedrive, Skype and Taxify are some of the successfully established companies in Estonia. The government advocates entrepreneur-friendly tax policies. It also offers attractive incentives especially to some niche segments like fintech and IT.
Finland: This country is known for promoting successful startups like Vario, Supercell and Rovio. It does boast of having several successful tech companies. Foreign-friendly work policies, Finnish infrastructure, quality of life and educational system attract foreign founders in huge numbers. This country also boasts of having expertise in nature-related solutions and heavy industries. The Finnish government offers loans and grants to support budding startups, especially coming from university incubators. Its corporate tax rate is 20%.

The above are the best country to start a business as a foreigner in europe. You can enjoy success here quickly.

Sameer

Sameer is a writer, entrepreneur and investor. He is passionate about inspiring entrepreneurs and women in business, telling great startup stories, providing readers with actionable insights on startup fundraising, startup marketing and startup non-obviousnesses and generally ranting on things that he thinks should be ranting about all while hoping to impress upon them to bet on themselves (as entrepreneurs) and bet on others (as investors or potential board members or executives or managers) who are really betting on themselves but need the motivation of someone else’s endorsement to get there. Sameer is a writer, entrepreneur and investor. He is passionate about inspiring entrepreneurs and women in business, telling great startup stories, providing readers with actionable insights on startup fundraising, startup marketing and startup non-obviousnesses and generally ranting on things that he thinks should be ranting about all while hoping to impress upon them to bet on themselves (as entrepreneurs) and bet on others (as investors or potential board members or executives or managers) who are really betting on themselves but need the motivation of someone else’s endorsement to get there.

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